Answers & Explanations

Title: A natural substance that helps you to slim down

(The passage was published in English Street on June 24.)

1. B
Paragraph 1 describes the banana-eating diet. The regimen is to have uncooked bananas for breakfast and then eat anything for lunch and dinner except sweets. Thus, the answer is B.

2. C
Paragraph 2 states that the banana regimen was designed by Sumiko Watanabe. It was first designed for her husband, who had been overweight. Thus, the pronoun ‘he’ refers to ‘Sumiko Watanabe’s husband’.

3. D
The word ‘however’ in paragraph 5 indicates the difference between resistant starch and other starches. Paragraph 5 mentions that resistant starch ‘is not digested’ and therefore it causes ‘insignificant changes in our blood-sugar levels’. Thus, the answer is D.

4. A
‘In other words’ indicates that the word ‘grounds’ is a synonym of ‘rationale’ in the same sentence. ‘Reason’ and ‘cause’ are also synonyms of ‘ground’ and ‘rationale’. Therefore, definition A best corresponds to the meaning of ‘grounds’ in paragraph 3.

5. A
The word ‘slight’ in paragraph 4 is an adjective, describing the noun ‘fluctuations’. Definition B is used to describe people. Therefore, definition A is the closest in meaning to ‘slight’ in paragraph 4.

6.
C
The first type of resistant starch in paragraph 7 is food with a ‘shell’. Both grains and uncooked red beans have shells. Therefore, they belong to the same group of resistant starch.

7. C
‘To satisfy the appetite’ is a hyponym of ‘needs’. Therefore, definition C is the closest in meaning to ‘satisfy’ in paragraph 5.

8. A
The word ‘secrete’ is used together with the word ‘insulin’. ‘Insulin’ is a hyponym of ‘liquid’. ‘Secrete’ is a verb in the sentence. Therefore, definition A is the best definition of the word ‘secrete’ in paragraph 12.

9. B
In the last paragraph it is stated, ‘the excess glucose makes its way to the liver and muscles where it is stored as glycogen and carried to fat cells’. In other words, the excess glucose is stored as fat in our muscles. Thus, the answer is B.

10. D
There is no information about the writer’s opinions of the banana-eating diet in the article. It only states factual information about the difference between resistant starch and other starches to explain the rationale of the diet regimen. Therefore, we do not know about the writer’s views.